


But I Wanna Dream

by floorpotato



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Camp Half-Blood, Demigod AU, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith has 2 pet dogs, Langst, M/M, PJO, PJO AU, PJO voltron, Percy Jackson AU, Satyr hunk hell yeah, Shiro is a son of Ares, centaur coran, everything will make sense later ok, kangst, keith and Lance are just confused and trying their best, kids of Athena Pidge and Matt, tags will be added as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-16 20:28:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10578894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floorpotato/pseuds/floorpotato
Summary: Finding out the Greek gods are all real and that one of them is supposedly related to him is a lot for Keith to take in. He thought growing up an orphan, dyslexic, and with ADHD was just the world hating him. Turns out it has a lot more meaning than he thought. But the arrival of Lance the day after Keith's causes more discourse than necessary. And wait—the gods think they didwhat?--Sent on a quest across the country, Lance, Keith, Hunk, Shiro, Pidge and Matt come together in a way they never imagined. Facing horrifying monsters while simultaneously trying to keep on the down-low from the police, their journey causes them to realize what matters most and end up possibly having to sacrifice everything.--Or, the Lightning Thief Percy Jackson AU nobody asked for but will receive.





	1. Cabin Eleven

**Author's Note:**

> The title is based on a lyric from one of my favorite songs Dream by Imagine Dragons :^) 
> 
> I finished reading the Lightning Thief a few days ago and I sure do love the Percy Jackson world and I love Voltron so .... this was born. I hope you like it !!

"Holy shit! Jesus fucking Christ _oh my GOD_ —"

Yelling, Keith runs as fast as he can over the uneven ground of the forest, going so fast he feels like he's about to break his legs. He chances a glance over his shoulder at whatever the fuck _that_  is. He shouts, almost tripping over a particularly large root. Glancing left and right, he tries to spot where his two dogs are. He can't make anything out through the trees flying past him. Hopefully they're not squashed somewhere behind him.

He stops that train of thought, squeezing his eyes shut.

"I'm gonna regret this," he mumbles, saying a quick prayer, and dives behind a tree. He scrambles to stand, flattening against the trunk of a tree. The beast or whatever it is—Keith hasn't gotten a chance to really, uh, _assess_ its features—plows right past him, stumbling, looking around in confusion. He sucks in a sharp breath, even more terrified and confused than before at what he sees.

Standing there, in front of him, (and wanting to _kill him_ , as a matter of fact) is a Minotaur.

A 20 foot tall... Minotaur. He thought these things were fake. Myths. How is this possible? Is he hallucinating? How is _he_ supposed to fight a Minotaur? He's completely unarmed, and the monster could literally step on him like a bug if he's not careful.

The Minotaur snuffs, turning around and spotting Keith with a growl. It digs its foot in the dirt, pointing its horns at him. Keith stands his ground, holding his breath. The Minotaur comes bounding at him, and at the very last second Keith dives out of the way. The Minotaur slams into the trunk of the tree, shaking the ground. Keith scrambles to stand up again, and nearly shits himself when two black figures run to his side.

"There you guys are!" He huffs, the two dogs barking and growling at the beast. He stands up, knees bloody. The Minotaur struggles to pull his horns out of the tree, snapping one in half as he rears his head back. A lightbulb goes off in Keith's head. As the Minotaur turns towards him, he darts past over to the tree and pulls at the horn desperately. He grips it tightly, pushing against the tree with his legs. The horn comes loose and Keith falls to the ground, grunting in pain. He stumbles up as the Minotaur runs at him. He holds tightly onto the horn and yells, running at the beast as it moves to strike him. He sinks the horn into the bull's chest, and it lets out a loud screech. It rattles Keith's teeth, and he stares up in fear as the Minotaur crumbles to dust and falls away.

Breathless, Keith shakily sinks to his knees. Ichor, the slimmer of the two dogs, nuzzles his side fondly. Alexios, the more muscular one, walks curiously towards the broken horn on the ground, glancing back at Keith. Keith wipes his nose, looking down at his hand, now covered in blood. He must've hit it when he dove. He takes a deep breath, pushing himself to his feet. Stepping carefully towards the horn, he picks it up and examines it. It's about the length of his forearm, and has a ton of sharp ridges, rough and heavy.

Ichor barks loudly, taking off into the woods. Keith's heart pounds as he bolts after him.

"Ichor, no! STOP! Get back here!" He yells after him. He comes skidding to a stop in front of a large.. entrance? Gate? Thing? The letters carved on top of it spell out 'Camp Half-Blood'. He's already weirded out by whatever this is, considering he's extremely dyslexic and usually can't read anything.

" _'Camp Half-Blood'_? What? What is that?" Keith mumbles, looking down at Alexios. Alexios stares back at him with a look that says _'don't ask me'_. Looking around at the woods, Keith lets out a hollow chuckle. "Is this some kind of joke?"

There's no response from the quiet and empty woods around him. Keith turns his gaze down to the horn in his hand. He gives Alexios one last uncertain look, and walks through the entrance, immediately assaulted by a hundred different strange sights. People sword-fighting, guys with goat legs, centaurs, archers... As he stands there gaping, someone jogs over to him.

"Hey, did you just get here?" He asks with a smile, giving him a once over and giving him a pity filled look. Keith closes his mouth and nods dumbly. The guy has short black hair, tall with a lot of muscle. He's wearing.. armor, over an orange t-shirt, and has a sword in one hand. Okay, things just keep getting weirder and weirder.

"Here, I'll take you to the infirmary to get you cleaned up. Coran and Allura are the camp instructors: they probably already know you're here." He says, placing a strong hand in the center of his back, guiding him forward. "I'm Shiro, by the way."

"Uh.. Keith." He replies, still trying to take in his surroundings. "Okay, so, I've probably just gone insane, but what is happening?"

Shiro smiles sheepishly. He feels bad for the kid, it's pretty obvious he doesn't understand where he is or why. His nose is bleeding, dripping onto his shirt and his knees are scraped up, bleeding down his legs. He's got dirt all over his arms, legs, and face, making it look like he was dragged all the way here. There's scrapes up his arms and hands, and Shiro's eyes widen when he sees the giant horn in Keith's hand. He opens his mouth to comment on it, but Coran and Allura walk over before he can say anything.

"There you are!" Allura huffs. She quickly thanks Shiro and turns her attention over to Keith.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood! I am Allura, the Head of Camp and this is Coran, my second in command. You're probably very confused, aren't you?" She asks, smiling kindly. She's breathtakingly beautiful, and Keith can't seem to look away.

"Y-Yeah, I don't have any idea where I am and I'm pretty sure I just killed a Minotaur?" He says, gesturing behind himself with the horn.

"Ah, a trophy of battle!" Coran says, pointing at the horn. "Very nice."

Allura chuckles, placing a hand on Keith's shoulder. "That is a great feat, one that many campers here would be jealous of. The Minotaur is a strong creature."

"Um.. thanks?" He looks at Shiro, who nods with an encouraging smile.

"Now, Keith, you know the basics of Greek Mythology, yes?" Allura asks as they continue walking.

"Sure, I guess. How do you know my name?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Now, now, that's not important. All mortals think it's all just myths. But it's all true!" She smiles and winks, "And sometimes, gods come down to Earth and fool around with some mortals and have kids—kids who are too powerful to be mortal, and too weak to be a god." She walks with her hands clasped in front of her, the definition of grace.

"A demigod." Keith realizes. "Are you saying that I'm—"

"Yes!" She smiles over her shoulder at him as they walk into the infirmary. Gesturing with her hands, she continues, "You're dyslexic, and you have ADHD. Those are no coincidence. You can't read English because your brain is made to read Greek, and you can't sit still due to your battle instincts. It's what all demigods are like."

They sit down on adjacent beds, Shiro next to him. Allura and Coran sit on the bed across from them. Someone who looks to be a few years older than Keith comes over and starts wiping the blood off his face, while Keith pointedly tries not to look them in the eye.

"But how am _I_ a demigod? How is all of this real?"

"Did your parental guardian not tell you anything?" Allura asks, concern lacing her voice.

"I'm an orphan. I've never known my parents." The frown that settles on his face is growing more frustrated than it is confused. "Obviously." He adds, gesturing around at the room, "Probably not likely I'm going to meet God."

Allura and Coran share a look with eachother that makes Keith's insides boil. They have a silent conversation and Keith just wants to know what it all means. He just wants answers to all of these questions that keep forming in his head.

"Gods! It's plural, not like those mortals' God with a capital _G_. That's completely different—the gods of Olympus are immortal; they control all aspects of life. Nature, human endeavors: everything!" Coran smiles, pinching his mustache between his index finger and thumb.

"So like.. Zeus and Poseidon and Ares and stuff?" Eyebrows knotting together, Keith tilts his head in confusion.

"I would watch it with those names if I were you, lad. They're no casual matter! Unless you want to get seriously hurt, you best treat the gods with your utmost respect." He winces, shaking his finger warningly. A roll of thunder booms in the distance. Keith looks around, weirded out. He winces as the older kid wipes at his scraped knees.

"Sorry, this'll sting a little." He says, and applies some sort of herbal cream onto his cuts and scrapes, and Keith clenches his teeth. Putting bandages on his cuts and worst scrapes, he apologizes again and walks off to another kid who just walked in with major gashes.

"So you're saying.. _everything_ in Greek mythology is real?" Keith turns his attention back to Coran and Allura.

"Yes. This camp is the only place where demigods can come to be safe. Outside of the boundaries of this camp, all kinds of monsters come after them. Unlike the gods, demigods can still die, because they're half mortal."

"Doesn't that mean the Minotaur shouldn't have died? Because it's not mortal or whatever? Or does that not count?" Keith scratches his head.

"Yes and no. Monsters, such as the Minotaur, can't die. They can be dispelled for a while, maybe even a lifetime if you're lucky. But eventually they will re-form." Allura explains.

"Uh. Okay." Keith shakes his head, not even trying to think any harder on the logistics of that. "So, Mount Olympus exists? I don't know if you realized, but that's not exactly something that can be discreet. This camp is in the middle of nowhere hidden in the woods. Mount Olympus is at the top of a mountain. In Greece. Full of gods. And other.. god-y.. Greek-y.. stuff."

"In short, Mount Olympus follows wherever the most representations of the Olympians and western civilization is. Mount Olympus went from Greece to Rome—different names, perhaps, but still the same. Then Germany, France, Spain.. now America. Wherever it is strongest, Mount Olympus is there. Think of it. The symbol of America is the eagle of Zeus. There's a statue of Prometheus in Rockefeller Center, Greek inspired architecture in your governmental buildings—try to find a city where there is no representation of the Olympians." Allura places a hand on her hip.

"So where is it?"

"At the top of the Empire State Building!" Coran chirps, like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yes.. anyways, we should get you settled into cabin eleven now that you're all patched up." Allura reins the conversation back in. She stands, dusting off her dress.

"Cabin Eleven?" Keith dares to question, standing up and following Coran and Allura out of the infirmary and through the camp.

"Cabin Eleven. That's where you'll be staying until you find out what god is your parent. That's what determines what cabin you stay in, after all!" Coran explains, grinning.

"And how long will that take?" Keith prompts him to elaborate. Coran just laughs in response. Keith frowns again, following along silently.

"Here we are! Shiro will help you get settled in." Holding his arm out towards the cabin, Coran smiles. "I'll see you at dinner!" He laughs and walks away with Allura. Keith sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, going to walk into the cabin when he hears a bark and turns around, smiling and kneeling down as Ichor and Alexios come bounding over to him. He pets them as they attack him with slobbery licks. People stare and give him weird looks.

"Uh.. are those yours?" Shiro asks.

"Yeah. This one is Ichor, and this is Alexios. I've had them my whole life. I guess this kind of explains their names, now." Keith chuckles. Shiro raises his eyebrows.

"Huh. Yeah, weird. Must be from your dad or mom." He shrugs. Beckoning Keith over, he steps onto the porch of the cabin. "C'mon, lets go inside."

Stepping inside, Keith looks around at all the kids shoved in here. There's people in the beds and sleeping bags and blankets in almost every spot on the floor.

"Welcome to Cabin Eleven, a.k.a. the cabin of Hermes!" Shiro says with a smile. "This is where all sons and daughters of Hermes stay, as well as those who are undecided, since Hermes is also a god of hospitality and travelers."

A girl nods at Keith. "Regular or undetermined?"

"Um.. undetermined?" Keith says, looking to Shiro for confirmation. He nods, and everyone groans. Shiro grabs a sleeping bag from a closet, laying it out in an empty spot.

"Here's where you'll be staying for now." Keith puts the horn down on the sleeping bag and looks around. Everyone is staring at him.

"How about I show you around?" Shiro puts a hand on his shoulder and steers him back out of the cabin.

"Why do I have to stay in there? It's super crowded. Look, there's plenty of cabins over there that are empty. Why don't you put anyone in there?" Keith huffs. He sounds like a brat right now, but he's had a long, long day.

"You see, the cabin you stay in depends on who your parents are. Those three over there are The Big Three. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. There's never been someone in any of their houses. The gods aren't supposed to have kids, you see. Obviously they do anyways, but they're not allowed to directly visit them or help them." Shiro explains as they walk through the camp. "I'm a son of Ares, so I stay in that cabin over there." He points out a cabin with some kids roughhousing out on the porch.

"So.. no one has ever met the god that's their parent? Ever?" Keith raises his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Nope. It sucks, but that's how it is."

"So how do you find out who your parent is then?" He asks.

"They'll send you some kind of sign, claiming you as their child." Shiro laughs pats Keith on the back. "Don't worry. I think you'll find out soon enough. Now, lets go to battle practice."

"Oh god." There's a roll of thunder in the distance. Keith glances up at the sky fearfully. "Gods. Oh gods." He corrects himself frantically. Shiro laughs.

 

* * *

 

Bruised, sweaty, and tired, Keith lays in the grass, panting. Shiro walks over and kneels down next to him.

"You okay there, buddy?" He teases, amusement playing in his voice.

"Nobody wanted to warn me we literally fight eachother for fun here?" Keith breathes, exasperated.

"You should get used to it. This is everyday stuff." Shiro chuckles, standing up. He holds a hand out to Keith, who takes it and stands.

"I hurt in places I didn't know I had, thanks to you kicking my ass." He grumbles. This only makes Shiro laugh harder, and Keith's frown deepens.

"It's dinnertime, you're gonna love this." Shiro leads him down to the center of camp, towards where a huge fire is roaring in the center of tons of tables, surrounded by all of the cabins. Kids sit at almost every table, except for the three for the three cabins at the end. The table for cabin eleven is completely full. Coran raises a glass in the air and everyone goes quiet.

"To the gods!" He yells, and everyone else cheers, raising their glasses. "To the gods!"

Nymphs and naiads holding huge plates of different kinds of foods come forward, and Keith takes a couple pieces of chicken when offered. Shiro hands him an empty gauntlet.

"Just imagine whatever you want to drink, and it'll appear in there." He says. He looks at Keith expectantly. "Go on, try it."

Keith gives him a suspicious look, but looks at the gauntlet and thinks that he could really go for some Coca Cola right now. Immediately, the cup fills up with Coca Cola. Keith laughs, and takes a sip.

"Before we eat, we throw some of our food into the fire for the gods, to thank them for all they do for us." Shiro says, nodding to the growing line of people in front of the fire. They get in line, watching as the others toss in different foods from their plates. Keith walks up to the fire and tosses in his biggest piece of chicken. The fire seems to swell as he stands in front of it. He stares into it, sending a prayer up to the gods, hoping to finally know who his parents are. Or at least one of them. Taking a deep breath, he turns around and walks over to Shiro. They sit on the porch of cabin eleven.

"Is it always like this here?" He asks.

"Like what?" Shiro raises an eyebrow.

"So.. busy. There's people doing stuff everywhere you look, and something is always happening." As an afterthought, Keith tags on, "and I don't think I saw a single cloud in the sky since I got here. What's up with that?"

Shiro chuckles. "Yeah. The weather is always nice here. Don't worry, you'll get used to it all soon." He pats him on the shoulder. Keith notices he's kind of like an older brother he never had. Smiling back at Shiro, he turns to his food and digs in, hungrier than he's ever been.

 

* * *

 

When he lays in his sleeping bag that night, Ichor and Alexios curled up beside him, he stares up at the ceiling.

_Mom? Dad? Whoever you are, please just give me a hint. I have no idea who I am anymore._

He closes his eyes and rolls over. It almost feels like he heard someone whisper _"Goodnight, Keith"_ as he drifted off to sleep.


	2. Rivals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so im just gonna say this now there's gonna be a lot of shit in this fic that's isn't completely accurate or probably possible but like whatever just go with it. I also didn't proofread this chapter at all so it's probably pretty choppy and subpar in comparison to the last chapter, I'm sorry :,^( maybe I'll go and edit it at some point, but for now this is what I have haha 
> 
> Anyways, HERES CHAPTER 2 I FUCKIN DIED WRITING THIS I hope u like
> 
> hunk and Lance r here I'm bad at writing literally everyone wow

Keith was given an orange t-shirt with the words _'Camp Half-Blood'_ printed on it, a symbol of a Pegasus below. He's seen a lot of other campers wearing one. When the girl had handed it to him he scrunched his nose and politely asked if they had other clothes he could have as well. With an enthusiastic nod, she had led him to a small cabin where there were tons of clothes. Pants, shorts, shirts, jackets, hoodies—everything.

"We get a lot of campers who come unexpectedly, only with the clothes on their back!" She'd laughed and said he could take up to 5 of each, and waited in the doorway after handing him a bag. That made him remember his backpack, that had held his phone, some clothes, and other personal belongings. The backpack he had dropped in the woods while running from the Minotaur. With a sigh, he decided he'd have to see if he or someone else could go pick it up sometime soon, and started looking through the clothes.

Taking exactly 5 of each type of clothing, he put them all in the bag and slung it over his shoulder. He walked over to the doorway, and politely thanked the girl. She blushed and waved him off. Walking back to cabin eleven, Ichor and Alexios ran over and joined him.

Now, he grabs a plan black t-shirt instead of the orange camp shirt, and a pair of jeans, changing in the bathroom. As he's walking around trying to find Shiro, a guy a year or two older than him stops him, asking about the Minotaur. Keith scratches his head, responding, but before he knows it they're sitting on a bench and having a conversation. They talk for a while, first about the Minotaur, then their houses, and even different music they like. Keith learns that his name is Rolo, he's from cabin twelve, Dionysus's cabin, and he really likes 'dad rock'.

After they part ways, promising to talk again, Keith finally finds Shiro and jogs over to him. Shiro was saying goodbye to a shorter guy that looks a few years older than Keith, with messy hair and big glasses. Shiro turns and, when he sees Keith, smiles.

"Hey, Keith! How are you liking camp so far?" He asks, amusement lacing his tone. Keith rolls his eyes.

"Other than the fact that I'm sleeping on the floor of an overcrowded cabin, surrounded by a bunch of strangers, in the middle of nowhere, full of weird magical creatures, it's great!" He frowns, crossing his arms. Shiro chuckles, patting him on the shoulder with a knowing expression.

"It'll get better, trust me. You'll find out what God you're related to soon enough, I know it. And when that happens, you at least won't have to stay in Cabin Eleven anymore."

"I sure hope so," Keith sighs.

"Stop being so grumpy. You shouldn't worry about those things. Everything will get better soon enough, trust me. You'll love it here in no time!" Shiro slings an arm over his shoulders with a grin, and starts walking. "Now, how about we do some training?"

 

* * *

 

"Woah, Keith. You're a total natural at this. Are you sure you've never done any kind of fighting classes?" Shiro wipes sweat from his forehead, smiling at Keith, both amazed and proud.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Keith looks down at the sword in his hand. "There's just something about a sword that's so... different. In a good way."

"I'm glad to hear that," Shiro chuckles, "Maybe you're a Son of Ares like me." He waggles his eyebrows and nudges Keith, who laughs and playfully shoves him.

"Yeah, okay, like that makes any sense." He snorts, and raises his sword. Shiro jabs his sword at him and Keith deflects the blow, their training continuing from where they left off before.

 

* * *

 

"Um, mom, _what are those?_ " Lance asks, staring out the back window of the car wide eyed. Hunk looks back as well, and once he sees what Lance is taking about he yells, "ITS A BUNCH OF HELLHOUNDS OH GODS, WHY?! MS SANCHEZ _STEP ON IT!_ "

Ms Sanchez glances up quickly in her mirror. Her eyebrows draw together and she pushes the gas pedal flat against the floor of the car, trying her best to put as much distance between the car and the hellhounds as possible. Lance looks from the hellhounds, to Hunk, and then to his mom repeatedly. Eventually he shouts, "What the fuck is going on?!"

"I'll tell you later!" Ms Sanchez yells back, quickly swerving onto a side road. Lance and Hunk grip the seats for stability.

"No! I'm sick and tired of being the only one who doesn't know what's going on!" Lance slams his fist on the back of the seat. He knows he sounds whiny right now, but there's currently 5 crazed, giant dogs chasing after them while they're doing 100, and he _still_ hasn't gotten even a little bit of an inkling as to what is going on. His mom sighs, looking pained.

"You're right. I'm sorry for keeping everything from you, but now really isn't the best time to explain all of this." She glances up at him in the rearview mirror.

"Hunk?!" He gapes, turning to said boy.

"Sorry, dude, but your mom's right!" Hunk yells over the noise of the barking dogs and the wind whizzing past the car. Lance slumps in his seat, upset and annoyed. "Oh my god." He rolls his eyes, crossing his arms.

"We're going to that summer camp I told you about! You'll be safe there!" Ms Sanchez says, once again looking at him through the mirror. She opens her mouth to continue talking, but is cut off by Hunk's exclamation of, "Ms Sanchez watch out!"

Lance can only glance to his left out the window before they're all screaming as the car jerks off the road and rolls, over and over down the hill, coming to a crash when it hits a tree. Groaning, Lance looks around. Hunk has a huge gash on his head, and his mom doesn't look much better.

"Lance, Hunk, come on, we have to hurry and get out of here!" She cries, her voice strained. Hunk starts shuffling out of his pants.

" _DUDE,_ WHY ARE YOU TAKING YOUR PANTS OFF?" Lance shrieks, appalled.

"IM GETTING US OUT OF HERE BUDDY!" Hunk yells back and pulls his pants all the way off to reveal very, _very_ hairy legs.. goat legs.. goat legs? Hunk kicks the window of the door out and scrambles out.

"Come on, we're about to get eaten if you didn't notice!" He says, looking over towards the hellhounds fearfully. Lance crawls out the window and helps his mom through, and looks back at the group of monsters with a whimper. He grabs his mom's hand and the three of them take off running, Hunk leading the way.

"We're almost there, hang in there Ms Sanchez!" Hunk yells over his shoulder, seeing how tired she is, struggling to keep up. Lance watches how Hunk bounds through the forest, getting upset that he was lied to about his best friend being crippled. He got into so many fights standing up for him, and he could've just kicked them in the jaw and they'd be out like a light! _What the fuck, man?!_

Looking away, he notices a backpack left on the ground as they run past it. There's a few trees knocked completely over and a huge one with two giant holes in it. Lance stumbles on a huge root sticking out of the ground, and looks back at his mom as she trips and falls.

"MOM!" Lance cries as 2 of the hellhounds take her into their mouths and he watches in disbelief as she glows gold and then disappears into a cloud of dust. He falls to his knees, feeling his world shattering around him. He stares blankly at the hellhounds, not registering Hunk grabbing at him and yelling, trying to lift him up.

All of a sudden, a horse—er, no, a man—no. A man with a horse for the lower half of his body runs out in front of them, along with a woman with long white hair who seems to be glowing, holding a bow and arrow.

"Get him to the barrier!" The centaur, Lance's brain provides, yells, standing in front of them protectively. Lance stumbles to his feet with Hunk's help, and they run towards the tree, a weird sensation coming over Lance as he goes past it. He looks back towards the centaur and the woman, watching as the woman shoots an arrow at one of the hellhounds, causing it to burst into a cloud of black dust, similar to how Lance's mom had done. She then tosses the bow and quiver of arrows to the centaur, who shoots at the hellhounds that come towards him. The woman chants something at the hounds, causing them all to shriek and shrivel until they burst into dust.

Turning towards Lance and Hunk, they come over.

"Are you alright?" The woman asks Lance, who stares in awe. He nods, completely overwhelmed.

"I'm Allura, and this is Coran. I understand a lot has just happened, and I'm willing to explain it all when you're ready." Allura places a hand on his shoulder gently, her voice soothing. Lance nods, and she leads him into the camp, Hunk grabbing Lance's hand and squeezing it. Lance brings his free hand to his face, sobbing into it.

They make their way to the infirmary, patching up Hunk and Lance's cuts and scrapes. Hunk wraps Lance in a tight hug, the lanky teen grabbing his shirt and crying into his shoulder. Allura and Coran look at eachother with an agreement, standing up.

"We'll leave you alone for now." Allura says, and starts walking away, when Lance shoots up, ready eyed and sniffling.

"Wait! No, please. Please stay, I need to know what's going on and what happened to my mom." His voice cracks and breaks, but he can't bring himself to care.

"Alright." Allura walks back over and sits down, Coran's horse half somehow morphing into human legs as he sits down next to her.

 

* * *

 

Later in the day, when Lance has gotten a grip on the situation he's in, Hunk decides to give him a tour of the camp.

"So! These are the cabins. Each of them is numbered, and each of them houses the children of a specific god. Those ones are the Big Three, referring to uh.. yknow.. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. There aren't any campers here related to them." Hunk explains, pointing out the three cabins. Lance scratches his head.

"So when I find out who my dad is then I'll live in whatever cabin is his?" Hunk nods. "Then where will I stay until then?"

"Cabin eleven. That's Hermes's cabin. Seeing as he's god of travelers and hospitality and all that nice stuff, all of the campers who are undetermined stay there until they're, well, determined. It's a bit crowded, but you'll manage!" Hunk chirps, and then links his arm with Lance's steering him in a different direction.

"That's the volleyball court, and then that's the archery range, we eat there, those are the bathrooms, and this is the training area!" Hunk rambles, pointing out various things and then dragging Lance to a large clearing where other campers are literally duking it out with various different weapons that Lance has only seen used in movies and in museums. His attention is drawn to two guys around his age, one really hot, with short cropped dark brown hair and a tank top that does amazing things for his muscles, the other has an atrocious mullet, what the fuck.

"Who are they?" Lance nudges Hunk, breaking him out of his ramble about gods know what, pointing to the two guys sword fighting. Hunk scratches his head.

"Well, the tall one is Shiro, but I've never seen the other guy. He must be new." Hunk shrugs and smiles, grabbing Lance's arm. "Let's go say hi!"

Lance lets out a completely manly squeak as Hunk tugs him forward, bounding over to Shiro and the other kid. Noticing them approaching, Shiro holds up a hand to Keith and lowers his sword, wiping the sweat from his brow. He smiles.

"Hey Hunk. I haven't seen you in a while. Who's this?" He says, looking to Lance.

"I'm Lance Sanchez." Lance says, smiling his most handsome smile. Shiro holds out a hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Lance. I'm Takashi Shirogane, but you can call me Shiro." Lance shakes his hand, afterword letting it drop to his side as Hunk looks to Keith.

"You must be new here, I don't think we've met! I'm Hunk." He holds his hand out with a warm smile. Keith rubs his arm, frowning awkwardly.

"Keith." He says, looking at Lance and Hunk. Hunk lowers his hand, not acknowledging how Keith ignored it. Lance, on the other hand, frowns, annoyed at how this stupid mullet headed _Keith_ has the nerve to not shake his best friend's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Keith! When did you get here?" Hunk asks.

"Yesterday." Keith answers. Lance butts in. "What god are you related to? The one of stupid haircuts?" He laughs. Keith crosses his arms with a frown. What's wrong with his hair?

"No, I'm undetermined." He answers, confused. Hunk elbows Lance, giving him The Look™. The brunette frowns and rubs his side, looking away.

"So is Lance! Guess you guys get to stay in Cabin Eleven together, haha.." Hunk laughs nervously. Seeing the situation not getting any better, he panics. "Uh, Lance needs to go get settled in so we'll see you at dinner, bye!" He blurts, grabbing Lances arm with a smile and once again dragging him away. Shiro watches them with bemusement, scratching his head.

"Okay, see you!" He calls after them. He looks over at Keith, who looks just as confused. "They're a lively duo." He chuckles.

"I guess so." Keith raises his sword again. "Round 6?"

Shiro grins. "Round 6."

 

* * *

 

"Oh my god, dogs!" Hunk yells, running into Cabin Eleven and attacking the two dogs with hugs and kisses. "Who's are you?" A girl sitting on a bed inspecting her nails blows a bubble with her gum, popping it obnoxiously.

"Those are Keith's dogs." She drawls in a thick valley girl accent. Lance smiles charismatically at her.

"Hey there, beautiful. I don't know about you, but I think the temperature in here just rose 100 degrees." Lance fans himself, leaning on the end of the bed. She giggles and flips her bleach blonde hair over her shoulder. Lance winks at her, and puts his sleeping bag and and bag of new clothes down on the floor in an empty spot.

"I'll see you at dinner, lovely lady. Save a spot for me?" He waves as he walks backward to the doorway, shooting her finger guns. She nods and giggles. Lance turns around, sighing, crossing his arms behind his head as Hunk runs out behind him.

"I still got it."

 

* * *

 

After dinner, Lance and Keith walk into Cabin Eleven, going to their sleeping bags, that are... Right next to eachother. _Perfect._ Lance didn't realize that Keith's dogs probably meant Keith's sleeping bag.

"Okay, you stay in your area, and I'll stay in mine." Lance says, gesturing to their respective sleeping bags. Keith rolls his eyes, climbing into his sleeping bag and rolling over, back towards Lance. Ichor and Alexios lay down between them, and Alexios stares at Lance, making him shiver.

"Tell your dog to stop staring at me!" He whisper-shouts at Keith, sitting up in his sleeping bag. Keith rolls onto his back, looking over at Lance.

"Dude, shut up and go to sleep. My dog isn't doing anything." He shakes his head and pets Alexios, then rolls back over. Lance frowns and makes the 'I'm watching you' gesture to the dog. Alexios huffs and looks away, closing his eyes and going to sleep. Lance lays down and faces away from stupid Keith with his stupid mullet and stupid dogs.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Lance spots Shiro after breakfast and asks him to teach him how to swordfight. Shiro happily agrees, and before Lance knows it he's sitting on the ground, sword knocked out of his hand, the tip of Shiro's sword pointed at his throat.

"Wow. This is why I asked you to teach me." Lance laughs. Shiro helps him up with a smile.

"Don't worry, you'll improve quickly. Take Keith for example. He only got here a few days ago, but he's gotten really good fast. All demigods have a better ability for battle than normal humans." He says. Lance frowns.

"I'm gonna be way better than Keith though! He'll have nothing on me. I'm gonna be better than him at everything." He dusts shoulders off confidently. With a chuckle, Shiro shakes his head.

"If you say so."

 

* * *

 

"Keith!" Lance shouts at him. Keith stops mid-bite, looking at Lance, confused. "I hereby declare you my rival." The brunette puts a foot up on the table, rattling the silverware. Keith sets his fork down, raising an eyebrow, looking around, expecting someone to jump out and say, "you've been pranked!"

"Uh.. okay? Why?"

"Uh, hello, because I'm better than you? And I'm going to make sure it stays that way." Lance smirks confidently.

 

* * *

 

Keith wraps his fists, walking to the training area. He finds a punching bag not being used by anyone, and starts practicing, punching and kicking it skillfully. After a while he pauses, wiping sweat from his forehead and looking over at two people laughing together. He huffs and looks away, at another group of people, sitting in the grass together. Thick brows knotting together, he frowns, looking to his other side, seeing more pairs of people training together and hanging out. He looks back to the punching bag. Everyone else is hanging out with friends and he's over here, punching a fucking bag, all alone.

 _Guess it's no different here either,_ he thinks to himself, kicking the bag.

Lance sits off to the side with Shiro, drinking from a water bottle. He notices Keith training alone, and frowns, eyebrows furrowing. Keith seems so mysterious. It seems like his only friends are his dogs and Shiro. Lance has only seen him talk to one other person, some guy named Rolo. Hunk says he looks sketchy, and Lance wouldn't be surprised. That mullet-headed idiot is probably sketchy too. Really, who has a mullet in this day and age? Lance turns to Shiro.

"Hey, what's Keith's story?" He asks. Shiro follows his line of sight to the dark haired boy in question, and frowns.

"What do you mean?" He raises an eyebrow. Lance shrugs.

"How did he get here?" The brunette elaborates, leaning back in the grass on his elbows. Shiro remembers last night, when he sat next to Keith during dinner as the younger boy spilled his heart to him. How his life growing up was, with no one there for him, and how he wishes the Minotaur had just killed him so he wouldn't have to deal with all of this demigod stuff. He told Shiro how he had been riding his bike when all of a sudden there was a monster chasing him, how he ditched his bike and ran for his life into the woods with his dogs, how he fought the Minotaur and then walked into Camp. With a pained look, Shiro looks over at Keith.

"He was riding his bike when a Minotaur appeared and tried to kill him. He fought and killed it, and ended up here," Shiro summarizes. Lances eyebrows shoot up.

"Woah, really? Why is he so good at everything?!" Lance groans, flopping back onto the ground. "Why is he training alone though, doesn't he have any friends?" He looks up at Shiro. Shiro bites his lip.

"Lance, if you want to know these kinds of things about Keith, you need to ask him yourself. It's not my place to tell you personal things about him." He looks down at Lance, speaking in a firm yet kind voice. Lance blushes and sits up, rubbing the back of his neck. "'Kay." He mumbles.

Shiro sighs. "Come on, let's practice some more. We have capture the flag tomorrow. You want to be ready for that, don't you?" He smiles, standing up. Lance perks up, jumping to Shiro's side, grabbing his sword.

"Yeah!"

 

* * *

 

"Hey, Hunk, what do you think about Keith?" Lance leans his chin in his hand, staring over at Keith and Shiro sitting together on a log, laughing and eating. Hunk looks up from his plate, food crumbs all over his mouth and shirt.

"Keith? I dunno, he seems fine to me. A bit gloomy, but to each their own. Why?" He shrugs, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and taking a swig from his gauntlet. Lance purses his lips.

"There's just something _off_ about him. He only hangs out with Shiro and his dogs. I saw him talking to Rolo a few times, but that's it. I doubt he even actually beat the Minotaur on his own, that sounds like a load of bullshit to me." Lance huffs, stabbing grumpily at his food.

"I don't know, I think he's just shy." Hunk nods, agreeing with himself. Yeah, he's probably just shy. Lance snorts, shaking his head.

"Yeah, right." He takes a big bite of pork.

"Why are you so hung up on him, anyway?" Hunk raises an eyebrow. "You like him or something?" He grins. Lance chokes on his food, coughing loudly.

"Oh my god, Hunk, gross! Ew! I don't even want to think about that! Eugh!" He grips at his hair. "I could never like someone like _him._ He has a _mullet_ for gods' sake! And he's all broody and mysterious, dark hair and clothes and everything!" He shivers, and pushes his food away. "I've lost my appetite, thanks to you." He crosses his arms, being the prima donna he is.

"Ooh, can I eat the rest of your food then?" Hunk asks, drooling. Lance scoffs, looking at Hunk, appalled.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead." He puts his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes. "I don't even know how you can eat that much food." Hunk shrugs and shovels more food into his mouth happily. With a sigh, Lance stands up. "I'm going to bed early. See you tomorrow, buddy."

"Goodnight, dude!" Hunk smiles, watching him walk away. _He totally has a crush on Keith, he just doesn't know it yet,_ he thinks smugly. _Just wait until Pidge hears this._

 

* * *

 

During lunch, Shiro explains to Lance and Keith how capture the flag is going to work.

"There's the blue team and the red team. The red team is led by the Ares house, and the blue team is led by the Athena house. You guys are on the blue team. Oh, there's Matt and Pidge now! Matt! Pidge! Hey, over here!" Shiro calls to the two siblings, waving his hand. Matt smiles and walks over happily, sitting down next to him. Pidge takes the seat next to Lance.

"Hey, Shiro. You explaining the rules to the rookies?" Matt laughs, looking over at Lance and Keith, who frown at eachother. Shiro chuckles.

"Yeah, actually. This is Matt and Pidge Holt. They're from the Athena house, they'll be leading the blue team." He points each of them out. "And this is Keith and Lance."

Lance smiles, and Keith gives an awkward hello. Lance looks between Matt and Pidge, noticing how they look almost exactly the same. Pidge is just shorter and has different bangs.

"Wow, you guys could tell me you're twins and I wouldn't be surprised." Lance whistles. Pidge rolls her eyes.

"We get that a lot. If Shiro didn't already tell you, basically everything is fine as long as you're not hacking eachother's limbs off or going for the head. Obviously the point is to get the other teams flag and hoist it into the air. Except it's literally an all out war." She laughs, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Shiro, shoo, it's time to discuss battle plans." Matt says, pushing Shiro away from the table. Shiro laughs and ruffles Matt and Pidge's hair. "Yeah, yeah. Don't give Lance and Keith too hard of a time. See you on the battlefield." He teases and walks off, grabbing some armor from a stand, where a bunch of other campers are gathered.

"Me and Matt are going to get the flag. You guys are gonna be on border patrol." Pidge rests her head on her hands, smiling sweetly at Keith and Lance. They both sigh.

 

* * *

 

Helmets on, swords in hand, decked out in leather armor, Lance and Keith stand on one side of the forest, looking at eachother warily.

"Look, rivalry is off for now. I still hate you," Lance purses his lips.

"The feeling is mutual." Keith adjusts his helmet, blue plume wiggling. All of a sudden, a conch horn is blown and the teams are yelling, swords raised, running towards eachother. Lance and Keith dash through the woods, trying to avoid all other campers, Matt and Pidge behind them. The siblings stop to fight with some red team campers, and Lance looks over his shoulder as he and Keith keep running.

"There's the border!" Keith yells, and skids to a stop, staring down at the spray painted white line. Lance comes to a halt beside him, panting. He looks across the way, seeing a river not too far ahead. And on the farther bank is the red flag. He nudges Keith frantically, grabbing his shoulder.

"Dude, dude, we just found the flag." He says.

"What?" Keith looks over, following Lance's finger to the river and indeed, the red flag is perched on a small hill on the riverbank. "Nice." He breathes. "Lets go get it."

The two run towards the river, wading through the shallow water to the other bank. Suddenly, a bunch of red team campers run out of the forest, ambushing them. Keith yells and starts fighting multiple at once, getting thrown around a bit but holding his ground. Lance on the other hand, tries fighting them and gets cut up a bit, getting thrown around by the red team campers and falling on his ass. He yelps and scrambles to get up, tripping one of the red team members, letting out a bark of laughter when they stumble. He quickly gets decked back to the ground though. Coughing and groaning, Lance stands up and swings his sword at the nearest red team member, who in return slices his plume off of his helmet cleanly. Lance shrieks, the helmet slipping off. He pushes it off and chucks it, trying his best to deflect the red team's attacks.

Keith kicks one of the red team members in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. Another member tackles him to the ground, and he's too busy scrambling up to notice Pidge and Matt yelling and joining the fight, swords clanging.

Matt and Shiro spot eachother, grinning and quickly coming together, their swords clanging and bouncing off eachother. Matt glances over at the flag, grin widening. Shiro notices the look and looks over at the flag, watching as Pidge climbs towards it.

"Shit, the flag!" Shiro yells. The red team members turn and cry out in defeat as Pidge grabs the flag and lifts it in the air.

"Oh yeah baby, we just kicked all of your butts! Athena 28, Ares 27!" She yells, whooping. Lance grins.

"Hell yeah! Whoohoo!!" He cries, pumping his fist in the air from his spot on the ground. Matt does a little victory dance, sticking his tongue out at Shiro, who shakes his head, chuckling. Keith laughs as they make fools of themselves, a weird happiness settling in his chest.

 

* * *

 

The blue team carries Pidge on their shoulders to dinner, shouting and hooting, their laughter carrying through the camp. Lance slings an arm over Keith's shoulders, laughing.

"He cut the plume clean off my head, dude! I thought I was a goner!" He says. Keith laughs, shaking his head.

"You're so dramatic." He teases, nudging Lance in the side playfully. The brunette scoffs, holding a hand to his chest in mock offense.

"I am not! And anyways, I saw you get crushed by that one dude—" he cuts off with a gasp. "HUNK! My love! I've returned from the war!" He cries, detaching himself from Keith and running to the larger boy, who embraces him.

"Lance! Buddy! Good job out there!" He squeezes him extra tight. Shiro walks over with Matt.

"Calm down, Hunk, I think you're going to break him." Matt laughs. Hunk looks down at Lance and lets him go, smiling apologetically.

"Sorry bro." He rubs his head sheepishly. Lance waves him off.

"It's fine, your hugs are the best, no matter how bone-crushing they can be." He grins. A tall buff girl sets Pidge down, giving her a high five before walking off. Pidge walks over, pretending to flip her non-existent long hair over her shoulder.

"Ohohoho, the star of the show just arrived." Lance whistles. "Nice job out there!"

"Thanks, it was nothing." Pidge laughs, and they all grab their food. Coran comes and blows his horn per usual.

"To the gods!" They all yell, and toss in food one by one. Keith once again sends a prayer to be claimed by one of the Gods, then goes and sits down on a log alone. Lance, Hunk, Shiro, Pidge, and Matt all rush over to an empty table, laughing as they almost knock eachother over. Hunk is the first to start digging in, and Shiro's smile falters when he looks over and notices Keith sitting alone.

"I'll be right back, okay?" He says, taking his food with him—because Gods know that he can't trust that table not to steal it all—and stands, walking over to Keith. Lance and the others watch him go, and Lance frowns.

"What's up with him?" His eyebrows furrow together in confusion and annoyance.

Shiro sits down on the log next to the shorter dark haired boy. "Hey, are you okay?" He asks gently.

"Yeah, why?" Keith frowns, looking over at him. Shiro shrugs, glancing over at the table where the others are.

"You didn't come and sit with us." He frowns worriedly. "Are you sure nothings wrong?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Did we come on too strong?" Pidge asks, concerned. Lance rolls his eyes.

"He's probably just being all grumpy and broody and emo like usual." Lance waves his chicken wing around. "I would be too if I had a haircut like that."

Pidge snorts. "Okay, that's.. you're kind of right there." Lance laughs.

"Aren't I though? Imagine if that's what his problem actually is. I think I would actually feel bad." He shakes his head.

"Okay, but on another note, can we talk about how Lance literally looked like he had been shot when Kyle cut the plume off his helmet." Pidge says, and the table erupts in laughter.

Keith sits, alone as Shiro goes back to the others. He stares into the fire, poking idly at his food.

 

* * *

 

Keith wakes up early the next morning, going to train despite the light soreness in his arms and legs. He wraps his fists again, Ichor and Alexios following him out of the cabin and to the training grounds, laying down nearby as he starts practicing on the punching bag.

Focused on the bag, Keith doesn't notice Lance's arrival until he's speaking, saying something about Keith being an early riser. Keith glances over at him, huffing. The brunette sits down, opting to watch.

"So are you like some kind of fitness junkie? All you do is train." Lance says. When he gets no response, he keeps talking. "My sister María is a _total_ fitness junkie. She would wake up at 4 am go to the gym every day before work for like 3 hours, and man was she _ripped_. She would wrestle with my brothers all the time, and no matter how many of us teamed up on her, she would always win." He laughs, remembering the sight of his sister with two of his brothers slung over each of her shoulders. Keith's frown deepens, feeling uncomfortable. He doesn't know why Lance is telling him this, and the fondness in his voice is something that makes Keith feel like he's learning something he shouldn't.

"She would make my older brother Alejandro so mad. Whenever he would have friends over, she would make sure to make a fool out of him. He would get so embarrassed," the brunette sighs. Keith looks at him, confused.

"Wouldn't your brothers and sisters be here too?" He asks, annoyed.

"They're my step and half brother and sisters. The only brother I had the same mom and dad as died from cancer a couple years ago." He says. Keith looks away. He doesn't want to see that sad smile, or think about how Lance must've been so broken because someone close to him was gone. What doesn't that even feel like? He wants to claw his way out of his skin.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters? They suck, and you hate them with such a passion, but like, you love them with all of your heart anyways. You know?" Lance smiles up at Keith. Keith tugs at his hair, punching the bag one last time in frustration.

"I don't want to talk about this!" He shouts, turning on his heel and storming off, Ichor and Alexios standing up and following behind him. They glance back at Lance for a moment, then turn their attention back to Keith as he walks off to who knows where. Lance sits there in the grass, offended.

"The fuck did I do?" He asks aloud. Who does Keith think he is shutting Lance down like that, completely ignoring him? Lance was actually being nice to him for once, and this is what he gets in return! He crosses his arms, frowning.

He perks up when an idea pops into his head. With an evil smirk, he mentally pats himself on the back.

_That'll show him._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmu on my IG @re.woe tho my dudes 
> 
> Next chpter is gonna be lit figuratively and literally haha 
> 
> I have the next few chapters planned out so I'll try and update every Saturday or Sunday depending when I finish the chapter that week 
> 
> I hope you like it so far !! Comments and criticism are welcome :^)


	3. The Prank Epidemic: Keith Blows Up, Literally

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this entire chapter is completely Lance being stupid and dumb and a troll 
> 
>  
> 
> also Shiro being mad n a lot of emotions jsjsjsjs ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Lance grins as he casually walks through camp, following behind a certain mullet-head. He keeps a large distance between them, so Keith doesn't notice his presence. The raven haired boy is completely oblivious, walking into the bathroom casually. Lance stands outside, leaning against the wall, whistling in an attempt to look casual.

Keith a towel and clean clothes to change into under his arm. He walks over to a shower, pulling the curtain back. Glad that there's seemingly no one else in the bathrooms, he undresses, setting his clothes on the bench right outside the showers. He turns the water on, yanking the curtain shut behind him.

At the sound of the water running, Lance perks up and looks around, before tiptoeing into the bathroom. Keith hums quietly as he washes his hair, and Lance holds in a snicker as he snatches up Keith's clothes and towel. Quickly slipping back out of the bathroom, he sprints back across camp to Cabin Eleven. Once inside, he makes his way over to Keith's sleeping bag, where the stupid emo mullet-head's dogs are and dumps his clothes there. He sticks his tongue out at the two dogs, who growl at him in response.

"H-Hey, he deserves it!" He huffs, and then growls back at the two dogs. They stand up and bark, and he yelps, booking it out of the cabin as fast as he can manage to go.

Humming, Keith pulls back the shower curtain to grab his clothes, but freezes when there aren't any there. He looks around the bathroom quickly, face red with embarrassment, even though there's no one around to see him. He yanks the shower curtain back, and leans against the shower wall, arms wrapped around himself. _As if getting bullied at school wasn't enough,_ he thinks, remembering when his classmates did the exact same thing to him his freshman year. All he can do now is hide and wait.

 

* * *

 

After looking around the camp for an hour, Shiro still can't find Keith. He spots Pidge, calling out to her and jogs over when she stops and waits for him.

"Hey, Shiro. What's up?" She asks, noticing his worry.

"Have you seen Keith anywhere? I can't find him." He says, looking at her expectantly. She shrugs.

"The last time I saw him was when he went to shower this morning, but that was a few hours ago, so.." Shiro puts a hand on Pidge's shoulder, smiling.

"No, that's fine. Thank you!" He says, and quickly runs off to the bathrooms. His worry grows the closer he gets. What if Keith is still in the bathroom? Why would he be in there for so long? What if he's hurt and no one knows? Shiro quickly walks into the boy's bathroom, glancing around for any sign of the raven haired boy.

"Keith?" He calls, his voice carrying loudly. Keith jumps. His heart starts pounding.

"Shiro?" He calls back. Shiro sighs in relief.

"Thank gods. Are you okay? Where are you?" Shiro asks, walking towards the general area Keith's voice came from, the showers. Keith peeks out from behind the shower curtain.

"I'm right here." He frowns, blushing.  _Well_  this  _is fucking embarrassing._  

"What happened?" Shiro asks, confused.

"Someone stole my clothes while I was showering." Keith admits, looking at the tiled floor. Shiro sighs.

"Stay here, I'll go get you some clothes." He stands.

"Shiro—"

"Enough. Just wait here." Keith is taken aback by his stern tone, and shrinks away, closing the shower curtain as Shiro's footsteps fade away.

Shiro frowns, eyebrows knotting together deeply as he makes his way to Cabin Eleven. When he walks in, he sees Ichor and Alexios laying down next to a pile of clothes and a towel. Putting two and two together, Shiro picks up the pile, patting each of the dogs on the head. He looks over at Lances sleeping bag and shakes his head. He's going to have a _long_ talk with him.

When he gets back to the bathroom, he walks right over to the shower Keith is in and holds out the pile of clothes. "Here,"

Keith opens the curtain and sticks his head out, staring down at the clothes. "Uh—thanks.." he mumbles, taking the clothes and closing the curtain. Shiro sits down on the bench, waiting as Keith quickly changes into his clothes, sadly having no use for the towel seeing as his hair dried about an hour ago. He walks out of the shower, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Thanks a lot, Shiro.. I probably would have been stuck in here all day if you didn't find me." He laughs nervously. Shiro gives him a pitiful stare.

"You really don't know who did it?" He crosses his arms.

"No, I don't. It doesn't matter anyway," Keith says, trying to brush it off like it's fine. It shouldn't matter, so he won't do anything about it. He walks out of the bathroom, and Shiro doesn't say anything.

 

* * *

 

"Lance." Shiro crosses his arms, glaring at the back of the teen's head. Lance swallows his bite of salad and turns around, smiling nervously. "Yes?"

"You took Keith's clothes this morning while he was showering, didn't you?" Lance shrinks under Shiro's disappointed gaze. He rubs his arm, feeling like he's being scolded by his mother. Shiro's frown only deepens at the lack of response, and Lance sputters, waving his hands frantically.

"Okay, okay! I did it!" He confesses. "But he was a dick to me yesterday when I was just trying to talk to him, so he like, totally, one hundred percent deserved it!" He rushes, trying to defend himself.

Shiro raises an eyebrow. "Really? _That's_ why you did something that mean?" Lance nods sheepishly, with a smile. Shiro pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Lance, you can't just do that kind of thing. Keith has no idea it was you, so even if that were a good reason, it wouldn't be 'proving a point' to him or whatever you were trying to accomplish."

"So... you're saying that as long as Keith knows it's me pranking him, and why, it's okay?" Lance grins, mischievously.

"No, you shouldn't be pranking Keith at all!" Shiro huffs. He doesn't notice Keith off to the side until he storms past with a hurt look on his face. Shiro panics, calling after him in vain. Lance snorts. He leans back on the table and rolls his eyes.

"He's such a hothead." He says, louder than necessary, intending for Keith to hear him. Keith growls and walks away even more angrily, storming off to a secluded area in the woods. Ichor and Alexios join him along the way, and he kicks a rock before plopping down on a log. Ichor and Alexios lay down next to him, watching him expectantly.

Quickly, Keith stands back up and starts pacing back and forth.

"What did I do to make him 'prank' me? What did I say? Why does he hate me? I didn't do anything! Did I do anything?" He starts blurting out, looking over at Ichor and Alexios for an answer. Ichor tilts his head and Alexios huffs, putting his head down. Keith frowns. "Don't give me that look, Alexios. I swear I couldn't have done anything. And I'm _not_ hotheaded!"

Ichor looks to Alexios and, copying the other's action moments earlier, puts his head down with a huff.

 

* * *

 

Keith pulls on his boot, grunting in pain and taking it back off. He reaches into it to find what was inside, grabbing the small object and pulling it out. Staring at it in confusion, Keith looks around. It was probably Lance, based on that conversation with Shiro he heard yesterday. But why put a toy car in his shoe?

Shaking his head, Keith sets the car on the windowsill and pulls his shoe back on, walking out of the cabin.

Only to find the toy car on top of the punching bag he always practices on. Furrowing his eyebrows, Keith looks around warily, taking it off of the punching bag and chucking it as hard as he can into the woods. He cracks his knuckles and then practices like usual.

 

 

 

But when he goes to sit down with his lunch, that stupid toy car is on the seat of the picnic table. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Keith picks the toy car up and drops it on the ground. He sits down, and takes a bite of his sandwich. Instead of biting all the way through, like he was expecting, he bites a hard, metal object. Spitting it out onto his plate, he stands up, angry.

"What the fuck?!" He exclaims. He grabs a new plate of food, watching around him warily.

Off to the side, Lance is nearly pissing himself laughing.

 

 

 

Everywhere Keith went, the toy car was there. It made him so inexplicably angry, he would just grab the car and throw it as far away as he could upon sight. At dinner, it was even there. His gauntlet had the fucking toy car in it, for crying out loud!

Hoping for a break, when Keith unzipped his sleeping bag, he chucked the car as hard as he could at Lance.

Squawking, Lance simultaneously groans and laughs, seeing Keith's face red with anger.

"LANCE!"

"Hey, I have to see your stupid face all the time, this is punishment." He smirks. Keith punches him in the gut and Lance groans, deciding he should do something else now.

 

 

 

 _Am I ugly or something? Or am I that annoying?_ Keith worries, staring up at the dark ceiling of the cabin. Per usual he acts like comments doesn't matter, when in reality they will eat at him over time.

 

* * *

 

As if the toy car wasn't bad enough, apparently Lance took it upon himself to cut every single one of Keith's shirts into a crop top. More specifically, just enough so his belly button shows. Oh, and made them all v-necks.

"Get better fashion," was the only thing Lance said. Keith punched him in the face right after.

He had to get new clothes from the camp supply.

 

* * *

 

Keith throws the gloves on the ground, pulling at his hair. Instead of his leather, fingerless gloves, he has a pair of wool gloves. / Wool. /With full fingers.

"Fingerless gloves are stupid." Lance says. Keith glares at him.

 

* * *

 

Lance snickers quietly, Pidge shushing him. He creeps up behind Keith, holding up the short hair extension in one hand, and a pair of scissors in the other. He cuts a piece of the extension loudly, and Keith turns around quickly, eyes going immediately to the scissors and hair in Lance's hands. His hand goes to the back of his hair, feeling for where the brunette cut.

"You asshole!" Keith snarls, standing up. Lance grins.

"Your mullet is stupid!" He blurts, and tosses the extension at Keith. Keith looks down at it, seeing its fake, and watches Lance run off, seething.

"What is with him and my hair?" He crosses his arms, slumping back down on the bench.

 

* * *

 

Once again, Lance follows Keith to the bathroom. He waits for Keith to get in the shower before entering, and with a bottle of shampoo in his hand, creeps up to the shower curtain. He peeks over the curtain just enough so he can see the top of Keith's stupid mullet. He opens the shampoo as quietly as he can, watching as Keith goes to wash his own shampoo out. Lance reaches over the curtain and pours more shampoo onto his head. Keith doesn't notice, continuing to wash the soap out. But Lance keeps pouring more on. Eventually, Keith gets fed up.

"What the fuck?" He mutters, furiously scrubbing at his hair. Lance pours more soap onto him and Keith looks up and spots his arm, and Lance quickly drops the bottle and runs.

  
"LANCE, WHAT THE HELL!"

 

* * *

 

At dinner, Shiro convinces Keith to sit with him and the others. After sacrificing part of their meals to the gods, he goes with Hunk to the table, sitting next to him on the end. Lance sits across from him. Pidge comes over, sitting next to Lance, and Shiro and Matt join them a few moments later.

Lance smiles at Keith, who frowns and looks away awkwardly. Why is he acting so friendly, like he hasn't been torturing Keith every day the past week?

Suddenly, Lance pulls out a box and sets it in front of Keith. The raven haired boy looks down at it warily, raising an eyebrow. "What's this?"

"A present. To say sorry for all the pranks." Lance says, resting his chin in his hands. Keith's face shows his surprise, and he flushes in embarrassment, delicately opening the box. He looks inside, but it's completely empty except for a folded piece of paper. He pulls it out and unfolds it. The words _'fuck you ♡'_ are written neatly and he looks up at Lance, feeling his anger quickly grow.

"What is your _problem?_ " Keith snaps, slamming the note down on the table. Lance gapes, appalled at the reaction.

"What's _my_ problem?! What do you mean, _what's my problem?!_ "He bites back, pathetically attempting to defend himself.

"All you are is mean to me! I don't even know why! You hate me and I haven't even done anything to you!" At this point, the entire camp has gone silent. Everyone's eyes are on the two, but that doesn't cause Keith to waver. If anything, it edges him on. His fists are clenched hard enough to cause his blunt fingernails to dig into his palms, but his fiery anger blocks it out.

Lance guffaws. " _'Haven't done anything'?!_ I'll have you know, just being near you it's like your stupidity will rub off on me. You act like you can be friends with anyone you want, like you're so high and mighty and the coolest thing ever, just because you beat a Minotaur!" He yells, feeling his insides coil with rage. So what if he's really saying this out of jealousy? He would never admit it to anyone, and no one would ever know. _Well, good thing I'm not jealous!_ He assures himself. _Why would I ever be jealous of that asshole?!_

Snarling, Lance's mouth moves on its own. "Well, you're not! And apparently I'm the only one who realizes it, because you're not cool and you're definitely not someone I would want to be friends with." He says, unable to control or think about what he's saying. "You don't make an effort towards the people you meet, like you assume they'll engage things first! You sit alone even when people want you to spend time with them and you don't tell anyone anything. You're fucking rude and give no explanation as to why! So of course you've fucking done something!" Lance shouts, his obvious personal feelings shining through his words. Hunk stares at him in shock.

"That isn't true! None of that is true, you dick! Get over yourself! I don't have to tell anyone anything. It's my personal business, not yours! I don't think I'm high and mighty, or any of that bullshit! Get your head out of your ass. You're the one who's been nothing but rude to me, and I haven't gotten a plausible reason as to why. Did you ever think to consider how _I_ feel? Huh?" Keith's voice raises. He grits his teeth, looking Lance in the eye. Lance sits there in shock, feeling his stomach jump to his throat. He feels like he was just caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar. All he can do is make a gross sputtering noise, and with no answer other than that, Keith continues. "Or do you get some sort of sick enjoyment out of torturing me?" He spits.

Lance quickly recovers, shaking his head. He hurriedly tries to defend himself, blushing. "Like hell I do! My mom is in _hell_ right now. She's probably traumatized! _Your_ mom is probably sitting at home, living her life like normal, perfectly fine! Do _you_ even understand how _I_ feel?" He yells, voice breaking. "I can barely manage to keep my mind off of how terrified she must be. She's trapped down there and—"

"Why should that have anything to do with this?!" Keith shouts, standing up abruptly, causing the plates to rattle. Pidge grabs a gauntlet, keeping it from spilling. She shares worried glances with Shiro and Hunk, neither of them saying anything. She glances over at the fire after a large chunk of wood shifts and crackles, the flames jumping.

Keith stares at Lance, hurt. He thinks about all the nights spent alone, and how Lance would have had someone to talk to. He feels jealousy bubble up in his chest thinking about how Lance has everything Keith doesn't, and has always wanted.

"My mom is dead! I don't have a family, Lance! I never have! I've been alone my entire fucking life and all you've done since you got here is pester me with stories about your family. How much you miss them, what you did together, what they're like. And you continuously ask me about _my_ family—" His voice is pained. Lance's heart stutters, his stomach twisting with guilt.

"You think it's awful to think about your mom down in hell? At least you know she's alive down there. How do you think it feels being constantly reminded that you're completely alone, with no one there for you?" Keith shouts, and his voice breaks. He only gets more upset at that, and bares his teeth. Pidge stares at the bonfire in shock, as it grows bigger when Keith points an accusing finger at the dark skinned brunette.

" _You_ have a huge family! You've told me all about it! You have something I've always wanted. The fact that I apparently have a god as a dad changes _everything_ for me, Lance. I always thought both of my parents were dead. Nobody has ever wanted me in their family. I was about to age out of the fucking foster system!" Keith feels the back of his eyes sting with forming tears. He snarls, "I don't know what your problem with me actually is, but you have no right to act like the victim here, no matter what way you look at it. I'm sick and tired of it!" He slams his fists on the table, staring down at Lance. The brunette stares at him in shock, and whispers erupt all around the camp. Lance looks fearfully over Keith's shoulder, at the bonfire that is now way larger than it was before. He clamps his mouth shut, afraid to say anything more. He just got his ass handed to him and he's pretty sure if he tries to deny the fact that Keith is right the camp might burn the fuck down.

Taking notice to all the murmuring and staring, Keith grows confused. Following Lance's gaze over his shoulder, he turns around, and stumbles back in shock at the huge, out of control fire. Suddenly, the blaze dies down to the small size it originally was, Keith's thoughts completely off of his anger now. He stares at the fire in shock and confusion, and looks around at the other campers for some sort of explanation. Lance stares at Keith, baffled, as Allura hurries over to him.

"I—I don't know why.." Keith stutters, trying to apologize for whatever he just did. "I'm sorry.."

But Allura stares up at something above Keith's head. He follows her gaze and looks up, at the hologram of what looks like a helmet, staring at it in confusion until it fades away. "W-What.. what was that?" He breathes, looking at Allura with fear. She has a solemn expression, and Keith can see Coran off to the side with a similar look.

"Your father.." Shiro breathes. Keith looks over at him.

"It is determined." Allura says, raising her voice so the rest of the camp will hear. All of the whispering ceases.

"...My father?" Keith questions, looking around in shock as the campers all stood from their seats and started kneeling.

"Hades," announced Allura. "The Rich One, Silent One, Hospitable One, Lord of the Underworld. Hail, Keith Kogane, Son of the God of the Dead."

Lance looks up at Keith from his position kneeling, shocked. The train of thoughts running through his head are all similar to:  _what the fuck, does this mean he's like, basically a prince? Shit, have I been disrespecting his dad by being mean to him? AM I GONNA DIE???????_

Allura and Coran both kneel to him as well, and he is honestly freaking the fuck out. _My father. Is Hades. Like... Satan. What the actual fuck. What. The. Fuck._

 

* * *

 

Allura shows him to his new cabin, holding a torch up for light.

"This is Cabin Thirteen, Hades's Cabin. It is close to Cabin Eleven in the number, but obviously, being part of the Big Three, it will be only you living in it, and it was built alongside Zues's Cabin and Poseidon's Cabin." Allura quickly explains, and places the lit torch on a mantel outside the doorway to the Cabin. This causes the other torches placed on the columns to light up with a green flame. Unlike Cabin Eleven, with its rickety wood and obvious lived-in looks, Cabin Thirteen is made out of smooth rock, or maybe marble, with huge columns, looking more like a mausoleum. It has a large door with a skull on it. Keith runs his hand over it, and slowly opens the door. Inside, it's pitch black, and Allura reaches over and flips on a light switch. The room is suddenly basked in dimmed fluorescent light, showing off the coffin-like bed made of dark mahogany frames with brass railings. The blankets and pillows are bloodred. The dressers and tables are all made of dark wood, and when Keith looks around he finds there are no windows.

"What, do they think Hades's kids are vampires or something?" Keith comments, setting his bag down on the only bed in the room. Allura chuckles.

"Keith, there's something else. Your father has just sent this, asking me to give it to you." She says. Keith turns around, expectant.

"What is it?" He asks. Allura produces a sword from behind her back, walking over to Keith and handing it to him. Taking it into his hands, Keith relishes in how perfect and light it feels. It fits perfectly in his grip. He looks down at the dark blade, admiring how smooth it is. Staring at it sends a shiver down his spine, and he sets it down on the table next to his new bed.

"Um.. thank you. This is kind of.. a lot to take in, y'know.." He rubs his arm awkwardly.

"Yes, it really is." Allura sighs, and places a hand on Keith's shoulder. "I want you to know, Keith, that if you ever need anything, I or Coran will always be here to help."

Keith smiles and nods. "Thank you. I think I'm going to get some rest now, though. It's been a long day."

Allura nods, and pats his shoulder. "Okay. Goodnight, Keith. Sleep well." She says, closing the cabin door behind her. Keith sits on the edge of the bed, dropping his head into his hands with a sigh.

 

* * *

 

Keith wakes up the next morning, the cabin dark and empty. He sits up, rubbing his eyes, and crawls out of the large bed, feeling for the light switch on the wall. He finds it and flips it on, groaning when the light suddenly envelops the room. He blinks, getting used to the light, and looks around the room. Ichor and Alexios look up at him from the end of the bed, both with a sleepy gaze.

Standing there in the quiet, empty room, makes Keith feel a bit of sadness, missing the life that Cabin Eleven held. Cabin Thirteen is cold, and unwelcoming. He's felt like this with countless foster homes, and it never bothered him before. So why should it now?

Wandering back over to his nightstand, he runs a finger across the dark blade of the sword that lies on it. He quickly changes out of his pajamas, throwing on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and grabs the sword. He walks out of Cabin Thirteen, towards the center of camp for breakfast.

He might be oblivious more times than not, but he can tell that something has changed in the camp. As he walks past the other kids, he feels their stares dig into his skull and hears their whispering, knowing that they're talking about him. He feels like there's a huge spotlight on him. Embarrassed, he quickly puts some food onto his plate and finds an empty table. Once he's sat down, he toys with his food, poking and pushing at it, feeling his appetite slowly lessen. He startles when a plate plops down across from him.

"This seat taken?" He looks up to see Pidge, smiling with her hair messy, wearing an oversized t-shirt and cargo shorts. Surprised, Keith regards her warily.

"Um.. no." He crinkles his nose.

"Great!" Pidge's smile widens, and she plops down onto the picnic table's bench. "Y'know, it's actually really cool that you're part of the Big Three." She says, taking a big bite of her pancakes.

"I don't know.. I feel like everyone keeps staring at me." He replies, looking over at the other groups of campers around them with unease.

"Well, yeah. You're like, totally crazy. You know how the gods aren't _supposed_ to have children, but they do it anyway? Well, the other campers are just scared of you. Being part of the Big Three means you're really powerful. So much so that the only gods who are supposed to _really_ follow the rule are the Big Three. A demigod born from one of them can prove to be great trouble, especially if they were to turn against the gods—so the other campers are both terrified of you and totally want to get in your pants." She smirks. Keith sputters, blushing bright red.

"W-what?" He gapes. Pidge bursts out laughing. Keith pouts, shoving food into his mouth.

 

  
Lance groans, draping himself across the table. "What kind of sick torture is this? Keith is even more of a super cool edgy emo mullet headed bastard. Everyone loves him! His dad is literally Satan, I don't understand why that makes him amazing!" Lance exclaims, pouring and glaring over at said mullet headed boy, sitting at a table across the clearing. Shiro watches Lance's tantrum with resigned exasperation.

"He's good at everything, too! Why does he have to be 'Son of Hades, God of the Dead'?" Lance whines, announcing the title in a lackluster tone. "It was bad enough when he was just good at fighting and mysterious and handsome. Now he's all dark and vampire-y and has a cool Satan sword and it's just not fair!"

"Handsome?" Shiro raises an eyebrow. Lance punches him in the shoulder, sitting up. "That doesn't matter! He should leave some attention for other people too, instead of hogging it all to himself. He doesn't even acknowledge it, either! It's all going to waste on someone like him." With a huff, he crosses his arms and incoherently grumbles to himself while glaring daggers into the back of Keith's head. Shiro watches him with trepidation.

"Lance, calm down. You should be nicer to him. He really hasn't done anything to you, and you know that. All of these feelings are out of jealousy," _and maybe a more intimate reason,_ he adds to himself, "You need to accept that."

Lance flushes, embarrassed at how easily Shiro can read him. He sighs. "Okay, maybe you're right."

"Now go apologize for last night." Shiro glares at him. Lance jumps.

"What's with that look?!" He exclaims in fear, scrambling away from the table. Shiro's look hardens, and Lance's voice cracks, "okay, okay, I'm going, I'm going!"

He stumbles his way over to the table where Pidge and Keith are sitting, Pidge running her mouth off like usual and Keith looking confused.

"Hey Pidge, can I steal Keith for a sec?" Lance asks, smiling coolly like nothing is wrong. Pidge raises an eyebrow, but nods without a word, holding all her comments about how gay that sounds in. Keith looks up at Lance, caught off guard, but stands and follows him as they walk aimlessly.

"I wanted to say sorry for last night. And all of the pranks." Lance rubs the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. "It was really shitty of me, and you're completely right. I'm sorry for all the unreasonable things I've done to you up until now." He looks over at Keith, self-conscious with how intently the other is watching him. "U-uh," Lance stutters, "I was thinking we could start over? As friends. And from here on out I swear I will be justified in being a dick to you and making fun of you like I am with everyone else."

Keith stares at him in surprise, and their walking slows to a stop.

"Really?" He asks warily. Lance smiles and laughs. "Really."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there was going to be another scene at the end with the gang hanging out but im really bad at writing filler. Like really bad idk if u can tell but writing fanfiction is fucking HARD 
> 
> so just like. Imagine them all hanging out at dinner or during the day laughing and joking around bc that is what happens 
> 
>  
> 
> also sorry I'm posting this a day late !! I had finished it Sunday night but had to do homework and it was getting late so I left the final touches and minimal proofreading for today. So here I am with the chapter, sorry for keeping you waiting for so long !! I didn't post last week because I was feeling not that great over the course of that week and didn't have the motivation to even eat much let alone write a new chapter ( ´_ゝ`) 
> 
> ALSO ALSO ALSO bless your souls @lynn_kun and @mea-gane for providing me with all of the pranks, I couldn't have done it without you LMAO 
> 
>  
> 
> anyways, look forward to next weeks update y'all boutta GET WET comments and criticism is welcome !! if u find a mistake or smth pls tell me lol


	4. Something I want to say

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> note from me ??

Hey so .., it’s been a while my dudes.... I kind of hit major writing block with this and my other fanfic I was writing. And I really am so sorry for never being able to finish a fic. Definitely is something I need to work on. 

I started rereading the lightning thief today instead of studying for my geometry final (great choice, I know) because I reread this fic of mine earlier today. It made me want to continue writing it, despite my radio silence. But now that I’m rereading lightning thief, I want to rewrite the chapters I have written. I wanted to know if you would all be okay with that? They wouldn’t be major PLOT changes, just rewriting scenes and adding in better detail and emotion. Mainly the fight scenes with Keith and Lance & co. before they both arrived at camp. I wanted to know if you guys would reread them if I did and if you still want me to continue this fic ??? Because I would love to, I was planning on rewriting the 3 chapters I wrote and posted after my final tomorrow. 

I’m so sorry for leaving you all hanging, I could have sworn I wrote further into the plot ,,,, but I just planned out the next chapter and didn’t write and post it smh 

pls comment with feedback/ideas for plot/anything really !!

**Author's Note:**

> Whomst is Keith's daddy?????¿
> 
> A lot of explanation in this chapter guys. and it was pretty uneventful for a first chapter, sorry !! It'll get more exciting hopefully next chapter. Lance and Hunk my mans will come into play :^) 
> 
> comments and criticism are welcome <3


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